Shipping wine from Oregon

WINE TALK
1

I need to ship a case of wine from Oregon to the Bay Area. My local Portland wine shop says it is illegal for them to ship it for me, and I do not want to go to UPS and claim it is olive oil. Any ideas? Can I cross the border into Washington to get it done? Are there places in the Portland area that will do it? Any legal suggestions would be welcomed.
Phil Jones
Portland

2

Between 16th and 17th on NE Broadway is a Postal Annex. They ship wine and have the supplies.

3

I don’t know if there’s been a change since 2018 but late in '17, the UPS store on 40th-ish and Hawthorne shipped a case from PDX to Missouri for me, they had some sort of special license that other UPS stores didn’t have.

4

I get my wine shipped there but have never shipped out. UPS Store, 3439 NE Sandy is the address, just down from my house and very handy. It’s strange a wine shop couldn’t ship out. I got Alberty to ship from StoryTeller, he moved on, some shops may only sell locally, just check around. Sec Wines, Avalon or Vinopolis may be able, but it may pay to be a good customer. Have you tried FedEx?
Shipping wine is such a joke in the land of the free. [snort.gif]

5

Thank you for those replies. The shop I patronize is one of the ones that were suggested above. They said their license to ship wine covered only their own sales. I am not sure how the authorities would know whether or not they sold the wine, but I appreciate their desire to follow the law or their view of the law (illogical though the law may be). I wonder what the law really is?
So I called the shippers described above. In the order mentioned above, they quoted me $80, $53, and $48. Of course, those prices might vary when I actually show up and the weigh and measure my styro shipping box, but those are the quotes (I did not have the exact weight and dimensions when I called, but they each asked me to estimate the weight and dimensions, so those facts must really matter).
In any event, it looks as if I will be able to get the case shipped, and I thank each of you who responded. Very kind of you to help out.
Phil Jones
Portland

6

I cannot remember the rules around shipping wine and how it relates to a shipping license. I would expect the ability to pay out an insurance claim could be connected.

I did think of a couple of other options. If you are or know a member at Portland Wine Storage or Willamette Wine Storage, I figure they can ship. I know the first one can.

7

California has no restrictions on wine shipping which I am aware of. Here is a recent article from the NY Times (focused on retailers).

Another summary of laws by state.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/financial-services-and-commerce/direct-shipment-of-alcohol-state-statutes.aspx

What I believe you are running into are FedEx & UPS rules which they have chosen to apply across the board vs. simply letting state laws determine whether they will or won’t ship.

8

I don’t understand. Apparently some UPS Stores are being told by UPS that they can accept wine for shipping, while other UPS Stores are being told that they cannot. Or some wine shops are being told that they cannot accept wine from the public to be shipped, but they can ship wine from their inventory. How can that be? Or am I misstating the situation?
Phil Jones

9



  • Poor employee training?
  • Fear of reprisal for breaking laws they don’t understand?
  • Other?
10

I think most UPS Stores are franchises, so I wonder if the correct information filters down to them.
After I drop off my case, and after it is on its way, maybe I will ask some questions and try to get to the bottom of this. It should not be this complicated.
Phil Jones
Portland

11

Another work around is to do the UPS shipping on-line. Have a driver pick up your wine at your home or office. The drivers don’t really care, they have a route to finish and it is just another box to them. This was what a driver told me years ago. And it has always worked.

Also, we had two UPS stores and one would ship and one would not. So that apparently is not uncommon, either.

JD

12

That is an interesting point about doing it online. I have never tried that.
I dropped my case off at The UPS Store this morning. $49 for a case going from Portland to the Bay Area (San Mateo).
I also found some information on the UPS website about shipping wine:

The information on the website is somewhat vague, not very informative. But it says they accept wine only from licensed wine shippers. No beer or liquor. So I assume that I cannot go directly to UPS with my case of wine. I think the most important point (made above) is that The UPS Store is not UPS. The UPS Stores are franchisees. The fine print on the paperwork I got from The UPS Store makes it clear that The UPS Store is merely my agent and the actual Carrier is UPS. So I am guessing that some UPS Stores have wine licenses and some do not. (I didn’t want to ask the lady at The UPS Store too many questions, for fear she would suddenly reject my case, but she did not flinch when she asked what the contents were and I said wine. And “wine” shows up on all of the receipts I was given.)
The UPS website, noted above, says that the shippers have to comply with all federal and state regulations, whatever those might be. I still don’t understand why my local wine shop would not ship it for me. I understand from above that some wine shops will ship my wine, but I wonder if that is technically OK or not.
I also note that my local Postal Annex wanted $80 to ship my wine, while two UPS Stores quoted around $50. It pays to call around.
Yes, I realize that I am obsessing about all of this. I am an attorney and I get paid to obsess about things like this, but I do find it frustrating that either:

  1. There is lots of misinformation on this subject.
  2. There are lots of rules, regulations, and red tape associated with shipping wine.
  3. I am too stupid to figure all of this out.
  4. Nobody obsesses about these things, except me.
  5. All of the above.
    Maybe this is worth an episode of Portlandia.
    But most of all, thanks again to those who suggested places in Portland that would ship my wine. You were right. Glad I asked.
    Phil Jones
    Portland, OR
13

I am also under the impression that CA is an open state for wineries and retailers to ship to someone. The issue may be shipping for someone.

Typically shipping from retailers isn’t a third party shipment and that may account for the issue.

Also, regarding the higher pricing for shipping, that will include a licensing fee and the $5 charge for an adult signature.

14

Generally, retailers were left out of the Granholm decision regarding interstate shipping and are restricted to just over a dozen legal destinations, whereas wineries (at least in California) can ship directly to over 40 states. I had never given any thought to what difficulties sending personal wines out of state may encounter. How do ppl submit wines to auction houses?